Cougar Tracks: Bronco, Boulder and the Bowl


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While in San Diego on Wednesday to help promote his team's upcoming appearance in the Poinsettia Bowl, BYU head football coach Bronco Mendenhall was asked about recent rumors that have him linked with the coaching vacancy at Colorado.

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As reported by the Deseret News, Mendenhall denied expressing interest in, being contacted about, or interviewing for the open job in Boulder—-a post which remains open after Cincinnati's Butch Jones turned down the school's offer of employment.

"I'm going to be at BYU as long as I feel like I'm supposed to and as long as I feel like I'm making progress," Mendenhall said in the aforementioned article. "I care a lot about the place. If it ever there comes a point where I think it's somebody else's turn, then I'll know that and they'll know that. But I think there's still a lot to do. Who knows what the future will hold?"

Mendenhall did address future prospects with the following: "I go more now on what I believe I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing than anything else. It's less materialistic. It's less self-interested with every turn. It's more principled. I've actually gone longer now than I thought I would. Just finished year eight and I'm really learning and finding ways to focus on that I really enjoy. I'm not sure how long (he will keep going). The easy answer is until I'm supposed to."

In the past, when asked about future job opportunities that might intrigue him, Mendenhall has mentioned military academies and/or institutions that place a particular value on academics or other mission-oriented objectives. That said, he talked with UCLA during the last offseason, and while one could debate whether the Bruins' job fits the loftier-purpose profile, as a professional coach, Mendenhall should not be faulted for talking or listening to anyone interested in his services—-it's just part of the business.

Whenever Mendenhall uses words like "less materialistic," "less self-interested" and "more principled," he naturally leads BYU fans to believe that if and when he leaves BYU of his own volition, it won't be solely for a payday, power conference membership or bigger bowl game. Publicly stating a sense of higher purpose is admirable and is indeed one of the ways Mendenhall in which has restored luster to the BYU brand. At the same time, neither Mendenhall nor any coach should be criticized for occasionally exploring different professional opportunities-—even if their primary benefit might appear to be better compensation.

As BYU's head coach, Bronco Mendenhall has a lot on his plate, and he has been working on that plate for the better part of a decade. As he said, eight years is longer than he thought he would last in his position. Many of the obligations of his job have been self-designed and self-created, and he views them as integral to the mission of the institution--yet they are the types of obligations that very few other FBS head coaches have to worry about. When you add the defensive coordinator responsibilities to his current job description, Mendenhall's brain must at times be working on overload.

While stress-levels are relative, there is a great deal of it at BYU, and certain kinds of stress could be alleviated were he at a different institution, with a different kind of job description, making money more commensurate with his skill-set and performance history. Even as he states that any prospective opportunity would have to be about 'more than football,' it would only be natural for Mendenhall to wonder if he could fulfill his desire to 'capture hearts and minds' in a setting where the sport itself may occupy a presumptively higher spot on the program's priority list.

2012 has not been the smoothest of seasons, but it will be Mendenhall's seventh consecutive winning season and eight straight with a bowl appearance. Mendenhall has the fifth longest current bowl streak of any FBS head coach and he is one of only five FBS coaches (min. five seasons) to have gone to a bowl game in every season of their tenure. A win in San Diego on December 20th would be BYU's fourth consecutive postseason victory, extending a school record. Mendenhall's career win percentage of 71.6% is equal to that of LaVell Edwards. He is nothing short of a defensive mastermind, and the Cougars' defensive performance in 2012 will go down as one of the most dominant in program history.

By any measure, Mendenhall has been an incredibly successful head coach for BYU, and has served as a program leader that should understandably draw attention from schools needing a shot in the arm for their football program. He has earned the latitude to stay at BYU for as long as he wants while at the same time having compiled a professional portfolio that will naturally attract offers to work elsewhere.

I don't see Mendenhall as one to shrink from a challenge, and I think he is looking forward to shaping and preparing his BYU program to confront difficult schedules in 2013, 2014 and beyond. I wouldn't blame him for feeling a little bit of career restlessness and perhaps some "BYU burnout," but I believe he intends to stay in Provo at least through his current contract. Whether the Cougars win or lose their bowl game, I anticipate some changes in the offseason, and that the modifications will be accompanied by a new energy that will inspire Mendenhall, his coaches and players in the seasons to come.

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Mendenhall's appearance in San Diego also offered an opportunity to get a perspective on BYU's head coach from someone who had actually hired Mendenhall in the past: San Diego State head coach Rocky Long. Having served alongside Mendenhall for a single season on the defensive staff at Oregon State (in 1995), Long, as the Lobos' new head coach in 1998, hired Mendenhall to coordinate his 3-3-5 defense and coach the UNM secondary.

"Bronco, from day one, is a very detailed guy," said Long at the Poinsettia Bowl press conference on Wednesday. "Relates with the players very well, gets the most out of the players, and will work long hours to make things right. But at the same time, he coaches with great enthusiasm, great energy, and his team emulates his personality."

"When he was our defensive coordinator at BYU, it was a sad day when he went to BYU, because BYU was one of the good teams in the league at that time, and they just got better when they got him. The smartest move they made was to make him the head coach when the possibility came. To be honest with you, I was hoping they wouldn't. But they did, we're here (in San Diego), and we'll see how it goes."

Long said his SDSU team is looking forward to playing at home, with the Aztecs having played in and won the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl. Long says while the bowl hospitality was tremendous, "the other factor is we get to play BYU. BYU is a great football team, a great program and they have a great coach. All you have to do is watch them play; they are a talented football team, but that's not what's impressive. You watch them play, and they play with great energy and great enthusiasm. Bronco was nice to say that we're a physical team, but guess what—they're a physical team, too."

Long said that in a coaching business that doesn't lend itself to close friendships, "I consider Bronco one of my close friends, and we have some skeletons in our closet together that we're not going to talk about; we're just going to be really nice to each other. Bronco and I have been on the same sidelines and had various successes; we've been on opposite sidelines and he's had a lot more success than I have in those situations."

Looking ahead to the bowl game matchup, Long said "I think our team is excited about playing. They know it's going to be a very physical football game. If you're those kind of people who like how football used to be played, it will be one of those games where there's…22 kids on the field at any one time, flying around and trying to get after one another. For me, that's the way the game is supposed to be played, and it's a lot of fun to be involved in a game like that."

"I think it's going to be an exciting and tough football game against a good and physical team," said Mendenhall on Wednesday. "A lot of what I've learned, especially on the defensive side, has come from (Long), and it's a unique chance to play against a mentor and friend."

Reflecting on a 7-5 regular season, Mendenhall said "it has been a very close year, a difficult year. Three or four more wins possibly out there, but I wasn't able to quite help our team enough to get those out. We are anxious to finish on a high note, and know we have our work cut out for us."

"It will be really fun to cap our season with postseason play against a great opponent, and another chance to improve our football team and our program, and I look forward to that."

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